Roman Society and Culture
7-4 Notes
BUILDING A STRONG EMPIRE
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Factors that helped build their empire
1. Organized a strong government and revised laws
2. Widespread trade and good transportation strengthened economy and unified empire
3. Strong army defended frontiers and controlled provinces.
GOVERNMENT AND LAW
 Strongest unifying force in empire
 Kept order and enforced laws
 Emperor : ran government
 Made all policy decisions
 Appointed officials of provinces
 Including governor
 Roman law helped unify empire
 Changed laws- 12 tables in two ways
1. Government passed laws as needed
2. Judges interpreted old laws to fit new circumstances
 Developed idea that certain basic legal principles should apply to all humans
TRADE AND TRANSPORTATION
 Government developed policies that encouraged trade and commerce
 Throughout Pax Romana agriculture most important occupation
 Trade centered around grains, wine, oil, other food items and cloth, pottery and glassware
 Foreign trade include luxuries like African ivory, Chinese silk and Indian pepper
 During Pax Romana- army built roads and bridges to connect empire
 Could move reinforcements and supplies quickly
 60,000 miles of paved roads linked all provincial cities to Rome
THE ROMAN ARMY
 Kept the peace
 Citizen soldiers served 16-20 years in Roman legions
o Stationed to guard frontier
o Men from provinces enlisted in army w/promise they would gain citizenship
 Maintain peace in provinces
o Uprising in Britain left 70,000 romans and allies dead
o Local leaders allied w/governors and kept peace
Life in the empire
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Pax Romana was time of prosperity but was not shared equally
o Many free poor lived on the land as tenant farmers or laborers
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Slavery widespread thru empire
DAILY LIFE
 Rich had a city home and country home
o Each had many conveniences like running water and baths
o Attended huge feast w/exotic foods such as jellyfish and ostrich
 Poor lived in crowded multistory apartment buildings made of wood
o Furnished w/basic furniture
o Government provided free grain to city residents
o Most Romans ate simple meals of bread, cheese and fruit
SLAVES AND SLAVERY
 By time Augustus took power there were several million slave in Italy- also common in eastern
empire- less common in Britain and parts of western empire
 Until mid -2nd century nothing was stopping masters from treating slaves as they wished
 Household slaves had it better than others
 Slaves could buy their freedom or be freed by masters
 Historians do not believe slavery was essential to roman economy
o With worker surplus –sometimes free workers were cheaper to use then slaves
ROLE OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
 Father holds host of power
o Made all important decisions
o Controlled family property
o Conducted religious ceremonies
 Women held some power
o Managed household
o Bought the food and household needs
o Helped entertain quests
o Had some political influence-amongst patrician class
 Could own property and accept inheritances
 Early education started at home
o Dads taught sons on how to be citizens
o Moms taught daughters how to manage a household
 Children from rich continued education at home
 Other kids attended schools
o Studied reading, writing, math and music
 If possible continued secondary school- studied grammar, literature, composition, and
expressive speech
o Girls did not get as much education
RELIGION
 Sought to achieve harmony w/gods
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Lares or ancestral spirits
Family worship focused on Vesta or guardian of fire and hearth
By time of empire state religion had developed- w/own temples, ceremonies and processions
o Purpose was to promote patriotism and loyalty to the state
By 12 B.C. Augustus became chief priest
o Necessary to please gods thru rituals and sacrifice
FUN AND GAMES
 Liked theater- especially comedy and satire
 Street performers were popular
 Watched chariot races at Circus Maximus in Rome
 Flocked to Colosseum to watch gladiator fights, animal fights and public executions
Science and the arts
SCIENCE ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
 Galen summarized all the medical knowledge of his day in 100s
o People thought he was greatest authority on medicine
 Ptolemy – theories accepted for 1000’s of years
o Astronomy based that sun planets and stars revolve around earth
 Romans engineers became masters building roads, bridges, arenas and public buildings
 Most cities built aqueducts to carry water from mountains
 Like Greeks knew how to build arches and vaulted domes
 Most important contribution was the use of concrete which made large building possible
LITERATURE
 Virgil- during Augustus’s reign
 Epic poem Aeneid tells story of Aeneas a Trojan prince
 Horace- wrote about human emotions in odes, satires and epistles
 Ovid –wrote annals history of Rome under Julio-Claudian emperors
o Criticized Augustus’s government
o Concerned w/growing gap between rich and poor and decline of moral standards
 Plutarch- wrote Parallel Lives an collection of Greek and Roman biographies
LANGUAGE
 Learned alphabet from Etruscans we use Latin alphabet plus J,Y,W
 Latin continued to be used after fall of Rome
o Catholic Church used Latin in services until 1960’s
 Latin is parent of modern romance languages
o French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian